Crib Sleeping Guide

by Mike Sinko

This guide is intended to help you through the process of ensuring your new child having a comfortable transition into their crib sleeping environment. Going from the womb to a crib is a dramatic difference for a new child and we want to help you make this the easiest transition possible. We recommend a 6 month to one year transition from womb to their own room.

It is recommended by most doctors not to co-sleep with newborns, as there have been incidents of children being smothered in the night by their parents’ bodies. We do suggest that you have a bassinet right next to your bed for the first month. This gives your new baby the smallest possible bed after being in the womb and it allows you to be very close for the times your little one will wake in the night.

Keep the bassinet right next to the bed and swaddle your child. (See our next ezine article for a guide to swaddling.) Keep in mind how tightly compacted they were inside the womb. Getting their first sleeping environment as close to this as possible will give them the security they need to begin sleeping soundly outside the womb. When your child awakes, first, try simply putting a hand on them from your bed. Often times, this will sooth them enough to go back to sleep, but do not let them cry to long, as this will lead to abandoned feelings and make your transition to crib harder.

After the first month, and once you feel they are sleeping well enough through the night that you are not needed to sooth them to sleep as often, begin moving the bassinet to the location you will want their crib in. Move it only one foot at a time, as small children are acutely aware of changes in their environment. Once they are in the new location for a few days, switch the bassinet for crib.